another story about how bad the poor have it

again, my gripe in this post are with the article, not with people who live in poverty.

the Washington Post has a new article, "Rental America: Why the poor pay $4150 for a $1500 sofa" that discusses how rent-to-own stores are taking advantage of those living in poverty, by "selling" items to them at 3+ times of retail cost, due to small recurring payments.  the gist of the article is that these companies are taking advantage of these people.  my problem is, this family is not very sympathetic in my eyes.  they spend more money than they have.  for example:

- $4158 for a $1500 sofa (the title of the article).  why are they buying a $1500 sofa anyway?  mine costs $600 new, and it's still quite usable after 8 years.  and from the article-- "She’ll sink into the cushions just before her kids get out of school and say she wouldn’t trade the feeling “for a million bucks.” Normal families have sofas, she says, and you’ll do what it takes to feel normal."  Really?  I would start by not buying the sofa, and sitting on the floor until I have enough to buy one from Goodwill.  you can usually find one for $200.
- $1000 for a new fuel pump on an old Ford truck.  why did they pay double what is necessary?
- smartphone and Samsung speakers from Buddy's.   no price given.  are these purchases necessary?  why not a regular phone (ie w/o smart features, touchscreen, etc)
- "Abbott and Donald smoked a cigarette in the bathroom and sorted through the grim math... By Thursday, $51 of the $230 had already vanished, used for gas and cigarettes." why are they still buying cigarettes? - "they haven't eaten out in 2 months"  that's the best part so far, but the article notes as if it's a bad thing.